Korean video gamers tend to play collectively (not individually)

"Indigenous video game culture creates a game space that Korean gamers use to construct their digital national identity. To Korean gamers, the concept of a digital Korea represents an imaginary space of Korean community where people play games together. Unlike gamers in the United States and Japan, whose gaming experience tends to be individualized, Korea's indigenous video game culture represents a new form of youth culture that allows young gamers to engage in social interaction through gaming with friends at PC Bangs. In this culture, entertainment happens at the moment when gamers are able to 'shout and play games together.' [29] This experience of social gaming creates a particular taste of gameplay that also leads to further immersion in a gaming narrative particular to most Korean gamers (Ok 2011). It is said that Korea is a mad gaming nation (Ahonen and O'Reilly 2007), and the country has the highest penetration rate for a single online game; 12 million South Koreans have driven a car in the Nexon online game Crazyracing Kartrider (2004). In addition to social gameplay within the Korean community, nation-building sentiments also arise in the context of Korean player-killing, where Korean gamers engage in social gaming on the international servers of an online game. [30] Thomas (2008) describes such gameplay as a cultural location that reflects existing racial tensions between Korean and American gamers. Similarly, political tension also appeared in a game massacre event, when Chinese gamers hacked into a Korean server and sparked mass killing between Chinese and Korean gamers in Legend of Mir II (2001).

On a macro level, gaming as a national pastime can be seen in the rapid spread of e-sports in all aspects of Korean society, and this e-sport culture is an indigenous gaming culture that receives support from the government, media institutions, and passionate gamers. E-sports have become recognized as an international sports phenomenon with their origins in Korea. With their emphasis on professional gamers, they have also become an emerging new media phenomenon, an international spectacle in video games (Jin 2010)."

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"Propaganda 2012 is a 95–minute video that presents itself as a North Korean educational video intending to inform the citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea about the dangers of Western propaganda. The video's uploader, known as 'Sabine', reiterates a statement she gave to the Federal Police regarding the movie's origins. She explains how the film was given to her by people claiming to be North Korean defectors whilst she was visiting Seoul. ...

Although the origins of Propaganda 2012 are contentious, its power lies in the fact that much of its content attempts to avoid invented history. Considering the media buzzwords associated with the alleged country of origin, Propaganda 2012 turns a mirror onto the Western world and seeks to criticise its entire history and culture–from the genocide and imperialism of its past, to the interventionism and consumerism of the modern era. The movie's overall attitude seems to express an intention to educate, shock and caution its audience into realising that people in the West are governed by a super–rich ruling class (The one per cent), who do not offer them true democracy; but instead seek to invade and assimilate as many countries as possible, whilst distracting their population with a smokescreen of consumerism, celebrity, and reality television. This message is spread across the video's 17 chapters, which each attempt to focus on specific examples of Western indoctrination and oppression. The film is regularly punctuated by commentary from an anonymous North Korean professor, and quotes from Western thinkers such as Noam Chomsky and Richard Dawkins. ...

Propaganda 2012 is certainly a film where the audience takes from it what they bring to it, and a variety of emotions can be induced upon viewing. Laughter, cynicism, outrage, contemplation and reflection would all be adequate responses to the video's tough, and often graphic, portrayal of the complex world in which we are living. Yet perhaps the most important thing to remember when watching the film is that the video is available to view uncensored, on a largely unregulated world wide web, and merely represents an extreme end of the vast spectrum of free expression. Therefore, during this festive end to an austere year, enjoy Propaganda 2012 as an interesting and beguiling alternative voice that cries loudly against the dangers of religious consumerism, and reminds us to remain humble and reflect on those less fortunate than ourselves."

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"Korea (South) has recognized design as the future growth engine and has introduced 'Building a Creative Design Nation' as a new government project. The Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) lies at the center of national design promotion policies. KIDP has been putting its best efforts into promoting Korea as a global leader in the design community and as a result, has created a global design portal site that will compile design information in an integrated and systematic way.

Global DesignDB.com is an integrated online service system set up to manage the latest design information for designers and others involved in the global design industry. It will act as a 'Design Navigator' for anyone interested in design. We look forward to your continuous interests and support."

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"Tesco Homeplus in South Korea has opened what it claims is the world's first virtual store in Seoul subway, following an initial trial in July.

Using the walls of the Seonreung subway station in downtown Seoul, Tesco has displayed more than 500 of its most popular products with barcodes which customers can scan using the Homeplus app on their smartphones, then get it delivered to their homes.

It opens on the same day that in the UK Ocado unveiled its virtual shopping wall at London's One New Change shopping centre.

In Seoul, Tesco shoppers scanning products on their way to work can get a delivery that evening if the order is placed before 11.30am. The store will be open for three months.

It follows an advert Tesco ran in South Korea in July for a virtual shopping wall, created by Cheil Worldwide. The initial launch created excitement so Tesco decided to push ahead with a full launch."

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"Multimedia techniques change very quickly in Korea. All of the universities have made new departments for interactive media and have had more instructors who are involved in high technology such as Web design, game character design, motion graphics, and moving image design. After the development of the Internet and multimedia games and products, many companies have needed designers with new skills. Today, some schools are combining all of their art departments into one college. For example, one university usually has three colleges of art: one devoted solely to music, one devoted to art and design, and another devoted to human movement and performance. With the development of multimedia technologies, the distinctions between these various field are disappearing. Now, it's common to use motion graphics with dance. Many universities want to expand the art fields while at the same time trying to unite them. It's a good change. If the different arts are all in one college, collaboration is easier. Students can learn new skills from each other and think about their works in other creative ways. There are problems that remain to be addressed ... Most education is based on practical business. Many instructors are second–generation designers, meaning that they learned design from the first generation of Korean designers, who didn't have a sufficient basis for study. Many instructors teach design founded on their direct experiences in the design field rather than on theory, methodology, or intensive creative thinking and experiment. Some design programs focus on multimedia classes instead of teaching basic principals of design–technology is more important than ideas."